Services: Focus on Sectorals
Enhanced market access in specific services sectors has emerged as the main approach for talks to move forward, but agreement is still far from imminent.
The first formal cluster of services meetings since the Doha Round talks were suspended last July concluded on 27 April after two weeks of intensive plurilateral and bilateral negotiations.
Plurilaterals: More Specific
The plurilateral market access negotiations followed on from the collective liberalisation requests submitted by groups of demandeurs in specific services sectors in February 2006 (Bridges Year 10 No.1 page 12). The targeted countries were each specifically asked whether they were going to meet the liberalisation commitments set out in the collective request, and, if not, why they were unable to do so. They were also asked whether they were prepared to formally bind the level of liberalisation already applied in practice in each sector and, again, why not, if they were unable to do so. A delegate noted that the demandeurs appeared better-informed about the regulatory and other policies in place in the target countries and were actively using this information as leverage for seeking qualitatively improved market access offers.
Bilaterals: EU, US Identify ‘Breakthrough’ Sectors
The bilateral negotiations were even more focused as major demandeurs targeted markets most critical to their export interests. Among these are Brazil, India, China and the four big markets within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
US meetings with the so-called ASEAN 4 focused on energy, telecommunications, financial, distribution, audio-visual, postal and express delivery services, as well as computer-related services. Lack of new concessions in these ‘breakthrough’ sectors is thought likely to discourage the private sector from trying to prod the US Congress to extend the Bush administration’s fast-track authority to sign off on a Doha deal. The authority is set to expire on 30 June.
The EU identified financial, telecommunications, computer-related services, maritime transport, distribution, postal and courier, construction, environment and legal services as its ‘breakthrough’ sectors.
Ambassador Fernando de Mateo, who chairs the services negotiations, has also adopted a sectoral approach in his ongoing consultations – dubbed ‘enchilada’ talks – with a group of ambassadors from about two dozen selected WTO Members. The tentative lineup of issues for the enchilada talks scheduled for the second week of May included maritime transport, logistics, computer-related services and Mode 4 (the temporary movement of workers).
Developing Countries Want Progress on Ag, NAMA
Many developing countries remain reluctant to agree to substantive commitments, as well as to set new timelines for submitting revised offers of liberalisation, absent greater clarity on the outcome of the negotiations on agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA).
Brazil referred to certain demandeurs as falling into a ‘take-and-take’ mentality, rather than the ‘give-and-take’ approach more appropriate to a mutually beneficial conclusion to the Doha Round. It also proposed that in the event that new timelines were set for tabling revised offers, the target date for such submissions should be three months after modalities have been agreed in the agriculture and NAMA negotiations. The African Group called for ‘meaningful’ services trade opportunities in sectors where LDCs have real supply capacity. Many LDCs have asked trading partners to allocate specific Mode 4 quotas exclusively in favour of LDCs, as well as requested other WTO Members to relax their entry and work permit requirements for workers from LDCs, as a form of special and differential treatment. The next services cluster is scheduled for late May – early June.